AXIS-I PSYCHIATRIC-SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH HIV-INFECTION AND PERSONALITY-DISORDER

Objective: The prevalences of personality disorders among HIV-positive and HIV-negative homosexual men were compared and the presence of per sonality disorders was related to axis I psychiatric disorders, psychi atric distress, and impaired functioning. Method: The subjects were 16 2 homosexual men who either were HIV seronegative (N=52) or were serop ositive and had absent to moderate physical symptoms (N=110). Lifetime and current histories of DSM-III-R axis I disorders, current diagnose s of DSM-III-R personality disorders, and levels of anxiety, depressio n, hopelessness, and adaptive functioning were assessed. Results: In b oth the seropositive and seronegative groups, 19% of the study partici pants were diagnosed with personality disorders. The seropositive part icipants with personality disorders reported higher levels of psychiat ric symptoms and poorer functioning than all participants without pers onality disorders, and they were over six times as likely as the seron egative participants without personality disorders to have current axi s I disorders. Conclusions: These findings indicate that HIV infection and personality disorders may interactively increase the likelihood o f clinically significant psychiatric symptoms.